AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/glossary/candour

Duty of candour

The duty of candour is the duty to be open and honest with patients when something goes wrong with their care.

Updated 12 October 2026 (1 minute read)

Summary

  • It means telling the patient, apologising, explaining what happened and saying what will be done about it.
  • Every healthcare professional has it as a professional duty.
  • NHS organisations in England have had a legal duty of candour since 2014, introduced after the Mid Staffordshire inquiry.
  • An apology is not an admission of legal liability.

In practice

  • The legal duty is regulation 20 of regulations made in 2014 under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. It requires providers to be open and transparent with patients about their care and treatment.
  • After a notifiable safety incident, meaning an unintended or unexpected incident in a patient's care, the provider must tell the person in person as soon as reasonably practicable. The notification must include an apology.

Interview questions

  • You give a patient the wrong dose and no harm results. Do you tell them?
  • Why might a doctor be tempted to hide a mistake?
  • What should an apology to a patient include?

Sources

  1. legislation.gov.uklegislation.gov.uk/…/20

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Cases that turn on it

Lucy Letby and the Thirlwall Inquiry Autonomy Doctors at the Countess of Chester Hospital warned managers about a nurse after a run of unexplained baby deaths. Managers were slow to call the police and told the doctors to apologise to her. The public inquiry into what went wrong reported in September 2026. Infected blood scandal Autonomy More than 30,000 NHS patients caught HIV or hepatitis C from their treatment in the 1970s and 1980s. A public inquiry reported in 2024, compensation payments began that December, and no one has been prosecuted.

More NHS hot topics, medical ethics case studies and medical school interview questions are in AlphaMED Resources, which we add to and update through the application cycle.